Alfred Thayer Mahan
Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and historian, who has been called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide impact; it was most famously presented in his 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783. The concept had an enormous influence in shaping the strategic thought of navies across the world, especially in the United States, Germany, Japan and Britain, ultimately causing the World War I naval arms race. His ideas still permeate the U.S. Navy Doctrine.
“The surer of himself an admiral is, the finer the tactical development of his fleet, the better his captains, the more reluctant must he necessarily be to enter into a melee with equal forces, in which all these advantages will be thrown away, chance reign supreme, and his fleet be place on terms of equality with an assemblage of ships which have never before acted together.”
Alfred Thayer Mahan
“Whether they will or not, Americans must now begin to look outward. The growing production of the country demands it.”
Alfred Thayer Mahan
“Organized force alone enables the quiet and the weak to go about their business and to sleep securely in their beds, safe from the violent without or within.”
Alfred Thayer Mahan
“The study of history lies at the foundation of all sound military conclusions and practice.”
Alfred Thayer Mahan